Honestly
by tsurikato
Summary: CH1: And THOSE people are your official partners! The guy turned around to face her, and Namine recognized him as the person in her Design class. Roxas Hikari, he introduced. Namine Shiro, she said.


**Disclaimer**: Kingdom Hearts 2 rightfully doesn't belong to me. Because if it did, _you wouldn't want to know_.

Another fic to kill myself over with! YES. DREAM COME TRUE.

I'm just kidding, of course, but I really wanted to work on this since forever. I even made a whole three pages of what was to happen in each chapter…I planned! I planned! And I don't want to make those plans go to waste!

Luckily, I kept those papers, since I actually made these plans in the summer. I was cleaning my room, saw them, and kept it.

Enjoy reading!

**Note**: Twilight Town in here is not covered in a perpetual sunset. Sorry, kids.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, did you see that new girl?"

"YES. And let me tell you how horrible that sweater—"

"—that skirt—"

"—that hair is! It's so…so…"

"BLACK."

"Hey, what are you girls up to?"

"Did you see the new girl today?"

"Uh, well, yeah sure. Saw her in the hallway. What's so bad about her?"

"UGH. You…**men**. You have no taste."

"All that black is really unbecoming on a girl, honestly."

"Well, at least it works for her, you know what I mean?"

"It works if she wants to join those emo people."

"For some reason, she doesn't strike me as emo."

"Then you're _blind_."

Both girls wondered why he snorted.

* * *

"Hm…Namine Shiro…"

Said girl, adorned in an oversized black sweater and a black mini-skirt, looked up at the mention of her name. Actually, some couldn't tell if she looked up; her bangs were covering her eyes to the point where only she could look out, and others can't look in.

Principal Xemnas, as his nameplate said, was someone who knew his business well. He ran a company, was the principal of a school, and owned an apartment complex. How would Namine know? Her mother worked for him. How he managed it, she had no idea, because it sounded like **hell**. You had to work with kids that acted like kids and adults that acted like _kids_, every day of every week.

His amber eyes flitted from her student application sheet, a photo of her attached with a paperclip, and to the actual girl. "You've changed," he observed.

Namine only shrugged. "Considerably." She verily didn't care about her look. If people wanted to stereotype about what she wore, go ahead. It's better than wearing the same uniform everyday and seeing other people wear the same thing, in her opinion.

"Well, other than that, welcome to Twilight High School. As principal of this school, I hope you enjoy your stay here," he said, sticking out his hand to be shaken. Namine stood up, her messenger bad comfortably on her hip, and shook his hand in response. "You have your schedule, and, as you know, your mother persuaded us to look at your records, so you are in some classes that required the completion of certain classes. Have a nice day."

Namine was glad that he didn't smile at her. It might have looked oddly frightening.

* * *

She wandered through the empty halls, yawning as it was early morning. It was only homeroom, and there honestly wasn't a need for a rush on the first day of school.

Namine Shiro, along with her mother, had moved to Twilight Town last month due to her job. Her mom was a respected and trusted worker in the Kingdom Hearts Company, and it just so happens that the CEO, also known as Principal Xemnas, had asked her if she could move to Twilight Town to be closer to the actual building vicinity and to work as one of his secretaries.

Does this call for a secret CEO-secretary affair? Hell no. Namine would NOT allow it.

…Other than that.

She had moved from a very prestigious town, Radiant Garden. To one of the inhabitants of Radiant Garden's eyes, they had thought her mother to be insane. Moving from a clean town to a "trash" town was like climbing down the social ladder. Her mother had taught her and raised her to ignore those kind of comments, but it is nice every once in a while to escape it.

Namine had went to Caraway's School for Talented Girls (normally just Caraway's), hoping for a scholarship in the arts to a good college. Caraway's was definitely a prestigious school—high-ranked teachers, an organized but difficult-enough curriculum, and a high tuition pay to boot—and the fact that it resided in the vicinity of Radiant Garden was enough to yell "ARISTOCRACY". Unfortunately, Namine had seen it just as that: a good school. She didn't expect the true horrors of high school that you had to endure, especially in an all girl's school, until she had to dorm there.

It was **hell**.

Namine was one of the girls that became an outcast, not desiring to be included in all the gossip and hullabaloo of being a girl. She kept her hair the same, and she kept her distance. Of course, all that peace comes with a price.

She was one of the many victims of being bullied.

It actually started in her sophomore year. They often made fun of her hair and decided to do something about it. Her only "acquaintance", her roommate named June, a junior, saw Namine in their room curled up in a little ball.

"…I'm sorry," June said, rubbing her shoulder in comfort. Namine understood. 'I'm sorry I wasn't there for you' was what she wanted to say. After all, June was a tough girl. She could have beaten those girls to a pulp if she wanted to. One of the many things that followed June around was incredibly bad timing, whether it's her or the people around her.

One time, Namine remembered, she was going to get her sketchbook after her last class of the day ended. It was already evening, almost time for dinner, but she just went to get it.

She opened the door and found June.

And her girlfriend.

Of course, Namine has nothing against bisexuals or homosexuals. It was just surprising to _see_ it, especially since she definitely was a virgin. (She couldn't say anything else about the other girls around her though…)

When school ended, June had already left the school because she had to move out of Radiant Garden, so Namine got the room to herself. She found it nice to be alone, especially in a place like school. It was in her dorm room where she found her true reverie, the only time she truly felt like she was all by herself. And it was comforting.

And plus, since she doesn't go to a strict school anymore—

"I get to slouch!" she told herself happily. Well, in the happiest voice she could muster anyway.

Looking up from her schedule, she had found her homeroom. On the sheet of paper, it had said "Gainsborough" for homeroom. If Namine's gut feeling was correct, then that must mean that this person is…

"Ah! Hello there! You must be Namine Shiro!"

Yep. Aerith Gainsborough: one of the valedictorians of Caraway's.

"Welcome to Twilight High School! I'm Aerith Gainsborough, your homeroom teacher."

Well, at least she looked nice enough. Not like those girls from that school.

"Everyone! Excuse me, may I have your attention! We have a newcomer to this school as of today!"

Oh, how she HATED attention.

"This is Namine Shiro, and she comes from Radiant Garden. If I see any of you treating her badly, I'll get Leon to get you." Namine almost snorted. Miss Gainsborough turned to her with a soft smile. "Now, I usually let my homeroom do anything they like, so just sit where ever you want, and don't get mixed up with the wrong crowd, 'kay?"

The black-haired girl just nodded and found an empty seat behind a girl wearing something yellow. She found it oddly surprising how, even though she was a junior, the teachers still treated everyone like babies. (Actually, compared to Caraway's, it wasn't that bad. All the teachers there treated you like you committed the ultimate sin of adultery or whatever.)

"Psst!"

Namine looked up.

"Hi!"

Ah, the girl in front of her. Her hair is oddly curly.

"I'm Selphie Tilmitt. This guy," she opened her hand to the guy sitting next to her, who waved, "is my boyfriend, Tidus Szanark! And since we're friends, that means no stealing my boyfriend!"

They were friends? Just because they knew each other's names?

The person named Tidus, whose hair was a mess of dirty blonde, glared softly at Selphie. "Selph, you shouldn't go on assuming that every person you meet is a boyfriend-stealer."

Selphie pouted. "But Tidus, I want the whole world to know that you're my boyfriend."

"Yes, I know, Selph, I love you too, but that doesn't mean you should intimidate people."

"But! But! Why not?"

"Because you're cuter when you're sweet."

If anyone had seen it, Namine's eyebrows had raised up. Tidus was a sweet guy, and that was his first impression that Namine had accumulated. She probably would have been more interested to talk if it weren't for the fact that Selphie had suddenly acted like she induced some pixie sticks in her bloodstream.

* * *

How Namine had got in AP Chemistry, she had no idea how. At least she liked Chemistry a little bit better than Physics and Biology, that's for sure.

A guy with silver hair had decided to sit next to her, and Namine had noticed his oddly bright attire (that yellow vest really worked for him) but his angst-y aura. Even his hair had covered his eyes.

But as soon as he sat down, some girls approached him and started to talk to him. Oddly, they were in the same class.

_Great. Smart bimbos._ Namine groaned in her head. Yes, Namine considered herself to be very mean to the human race.

As soon as the teacher came in, a handsome man with a scar across his face, everyone scrambled to their seats, as if they feared the very presence of him. Honestly, he wasn't _that_ scary—

"I'm Mr. Leonheart, just call me Leon. If you see a pipsqueak girl calling me Squall, ignore her. Ground rules, kids, you listen and I teach. You don't listen, I fail you. You fail, you get kicked out. You're all a bunch of smart kids, just don't get smart to me. If anyone asks, **yes**, I do have a gunblade in my closet, and I'm not afraid to take it out and use it on any one of you."

Ah. She understood why.

Second period, Algebra II/Trig, wasn't AS bad. The only difference was that mostly every guy in the class was probably turned on by the fact that one: she had a whip in her hands, and two: they all had some kind of glasses fetish.

"Looking good, Miss Quistis!" a guy yelled from the back of the class.

The teacher glared at the boy. "Unlike some of the other teachers here, Mr. Greene, I make my students call me by my last name, Miss Trepe." With a snap of her whip, everyone jumped to attention. "Listen up! This is Algebra 2 and Trigonometry. I expect you to pass this class—" and some more lectures about whatever and stuff.

Great. Another academic class to go. Wonderful.

Honors Literature had a better first impression than the other two classes she had. Miss Gainsborough, or Aerith as she wished to be called, let them have a free day for the first day after going over some books, plays, and poems they would go over. Namine just spent the period drawing, specifically what she remembers of the clock tower she saw here.

Psychology would seem to be an interesting class to take. Miss Lockhart, or Tifa, had gone over with them the curriculum, and by far it seems interesting. At least, interesting enough to get Namine's attention. Tifa had given them their first assignment of the year, which included some reading in the textbook that they were given, but it wasn't too big. (Namine had taken note of Selphie being in this class, along with two other girls she hung out with.)

Design class was taught by a Miss Kisaragi, or Yuffie. She was oddly short and very young-looking for a teacher (actually, she could probably pass as a student), and Namine had always expected those hyperactive adults had more than three cups of coffee in the morning.

"Design is basically like a pattern," Yuffie had started off, "but that's maybe down to the basics." And from there on, she started talking about what they were to do for the semester. Namine recognized one of Selphie's redheaded (or was that auburn?) friends sitting on the same table as she was, along with a blonde guy with spiky hair. As soon as Yuffie had let everyone do their socializing, she went over to the two of them.

"Great to have you guys again," she said to them.

"Same here, Yuffie!"

"Just lay low on the coffee, will you?"

Yuffie hit the blonde on the arm, and Namine cracked a smile.

During lunch, she didn't head directly for the cafeteria. She wasn't ready to deal with big crowds yet, especially since she was still used to two years of being surrounded by girls instead of a regular public school. She wasn't that hungry anyway, but she really wanted a nice quiet place to just pull out her mp3 player and start drawing.

"Oh!" Namine stopped in front of a room that had a plate saying "Music Room" on it. Through the almost see-through glass, Namine could make out a light coming through the window, yet the lights inside the room were turned off. She opened the door with a smile on her lips. "Helloo, redemp—"

Four boys were occupying the room, and they stared at her.

"—tion."

Well, so much for being alone.

She cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she murmured and closed the door, mentally beating herself up after embarrassing herself.

Namine was given a free period after lunch, so she just found a spot next to the same class Yuffie occupied just because her next class was drawing.

And all she did was draw.

* * *

"Hello, class! This is drawing! Yadda, yadda, yadda, I'm Yuffie, yadda."

Namine chortled.

"Well, I spent money on all of you brats for sketchbooks. And I expect for you to use them for the assignments I assign, not for some free stuff. Unless you have some extra room on the page, I understand, but don't use another sheet of paper or else you'll run out of it the next time you have an assignment to do." A sketchbook **just** for school? That sounded kind of weird in Namine's head. "Now, I shall give you forced motivation! You see the person sitting across from you in your table? Well, these are your permanent seats, kids (some groans from the class), and **those** people are your official drawing partners!"

The guy turned around to face her, and Namine recognized him as the person in her Design class. The whole partner thing actually explains the whole reason why Yuffie only allowed two people per table.

"Take this period to get to know your partner so that way you guys aren't so tense the next time you have to do a partner-thing."

Namine looked up when she saw a hand near her face.

"Roxas Hikari," the boy introduced. Namine took it and shook.

"Namine Shiro," she said, and they both let go.

"Where'd you come from?"

"Mm…some town."

"…"

Namine sighed. "Radiant Garden."

Roxas whistled softly. "Rich, are you?"

"Nah, just…convenient."

"Why'd you move here? Usually those aristocrats up there would call this place a 'trash' town."

From what Roxas had believed, Namine was very expressive. Even without her eyes, you could see what she was feeling or doing just by watching her lower face. Her mouth turned into a half-smirk, something he suspected to be her 'thinking' face.

"My mom got promoted."

Roxas snorted. "To a trash town?"

"Hey, it's happens." Namine raised a brow. "What about you? Where'd you come from?"

"Born and raised right here," Roxas answered. "Not much to see until you get a driver's license. You getting yours?"

Namine shook her head.

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "I prefer to walk. Plus, I'd be a wreck on the street, anyway."

His eyes narrowed in a scrutinizing manner, and suddenly they twinkled like he recognized something. Namine didn't know why her heart skipped a beat when she noticed that. "Hey, you're that girl that walked in the music room during sixth period."

She felt her cheeks turn pink. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't know there was anyone there."

He waved his hand. "Nah, you're new, I don't blame you. Small hint: my three friends and I are either in there or in the lunch room, so you might get the room."

Namine managed a small smile. "Thanks, but I won't take you up on your offer."

A few seconds of silence passed, and Namine was instantly reminded of her lack of conversation skills.

"You know…"

She mentally sighed in relief for his.

"I think Selphie told Kairi who told me about you being in their class or something."

"…Jigga-wha?"

Now _this_ kind of silence was unbearable.

"Um…I'm sorry, that's what happens when I watch too much—"

But Roxas just burst out laughing. Namine was…pleasantly puzzled, if anything.

Eventually, the blonde had reduced his laughing to a chuckle. "You're pretty funny, Miss Shiro," he said.

"Uh…thanks?"

He offered her a smile, and Namine's face turned pink again. "I think I'm going to like being your drawing partner."

* * *

Namine walked home right after the bell rang after gym. Well, what's EVER more fun than gym? Sarcasm, of course.

Namine opened the door and put her jingling keys away in her bag. "I'm home!"

"Hi, dear!" her mother called. Namine, at this time, had finally gotten used to her new home. As she was going to ascend the stairs, her mother with shoulder-length blonde hair came out from the kitchen door.

Her mother was actually a very young woman, thirty-five years, yet even with her young appearance, she was actually a mature mother. "It's what happens if you handled my situation the way I did," she explained to Namine when she was younger. But now that Namine was actually older, she understood her words perfectly and was glad that her mom was able to go through the whole 'child' ordeal at her age.

"Namine, honey, I'm going to the grocery soon. Would you like anything?"

"Mm, milk and banana-nut muffins."

Her mother chuckled. "Oh yes! And how was your first day of school? Did you make any new friends?"

Namine only shrugged. "Not really?" Her heart panged when she saw her mother give her that concerned look of hers.

"If you weren't wearing all that black, maybe you wouldn't scare everyone away," her mother reasoned.

"Ooh! Ma! Look! I'm scary! Rawr!" They both laughed at her foolishness. "It's alright, ma, I'll manage. Don't get hurt on your way to the grocery."

"I won't. Be careful, now!"

Namine saw her mother leave through the door and lock it with her key, and she felt the impact of solitude through the ringing silence in their new home.

* * *

Wee. First day of school was **always** fun. Sarcasm is too.

Anyways, I keep thinking that Namine didn't have a lot of characterization, or at least enough of an explanation to her character. Well, hopefully I can fix that next chapter.

Read and review, plox.


End file.
